Office



STATES PATENT oFnIoE.

WILLIAM EDGAR MUNTZ, PF LONDQN, ENGLAND.

ma'nmnr or menus To INCREASE THEIR COEFFICIENT or rnIcTIoN on nacn OTHER. I

1,232,374. Ho Draw lug.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM I EDGAR MUNTZ, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of 6 Breams Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, England, late of His Maj estys Public Works Department, India, have invented new and useful Imrovements ncrease Their Coefiicient of Friction on Each Other, of which the following is a specification.

T ere are many fibers which have hitherto defied the efl'orts of the spinner to spin the into a satisfactory yarn.

These are fibers of a smooth and slippery nature with little or no te dency to cling together. These, particular y if deficient in length, either cannot at present be spun at all, or if spun make a yarn so weak as tobe useless or nearly so for ractical urposes.

I now propose to ren er such fi rs useful by treating them to make them less susce tible toslipping'over each other so that t ey will assume a capacity for cohesion.

According to my invention the fibers are completely and evenly covered all over with an extremely thin coating of material poshigher coefficient of friction.

is contained be dried 01f behind on sessing a The coating which I employ in a mobile solution which ma or evaporated leaving the coating the fibers.

,This solution must be mobile and completely fluid at the time'of its application and free from all trace-of viscosity or lumpiness so as to freely penetrate between and around the fibers, and evenly spread itself over them, pressure or vacuum being employed when requ'red to expel air bubbles and thereby insurin the deposit of an even excessively thin coatmg" all over the fibers.

I .am-aware that it has been'groposed to manufacture yarns, threads, an fabrics of certain smooth fibers by twisting the fibers into i-ovings by two successive workings on rota condensers either wet or dry, also that seed hairs of kapok and the like have been treated with solvents adapted to withdraw therefrom incrusting substances whereby the said hairs are caused to shrink and acquire a rough surface.

I am also aware that it is a common practice to spin brittle or slippery fibers around a matrix or core or intertwined with rougher and stronger fibers. Another practice 1s to Specification-of Iietters Eatent.

, Application filed Apri l4,'1914. Serial No. 829,553.

in the Treatment of Fibers to" "out prejudicially is necesary in If the, fiber were not evenly cove Patented July 3, 1917.

agglutinate the fibers to form coarse threads to be afterward cased and woven or toagglutinate the fibers into a lap or sheet to be afterward cut into strips for use in spinning. and weaving.

As far as I am aware however no attempt has ever yet been made to cover the fibers individually, completely, and evenly all over before the spinning is completed with an extremely thin coating of material which material shall have a hi her coefiicient of friction than the surface 0 the fibers, so that the fibers thus coated shall have a greater resistance (by friction under pressure due to twist, weight, etc.) to slip over each other, without their drawing action necessary for spinning being seriously afiected.

The treatmentmay be imparted to the fiber when in an entirely loose condition or, if the fibers are capable of being spun sufficiently to permit of handling, the treatment may preferably be deferred until such preliminary spinning or twistinghas been effected. L The treatment which I propose will consist in depositing on the surface 'of the fibers asubstance which will adhere thereto withsubstances to come in contact with them and will, at the same time, roughen the slippery surface of the fibers to prevent more than the amount of slipping over each other than i the drawing out incidental to spinning, the excessive slipping having hitherto baffled the efforts of the spinner.

The treatment would have the incidental advantages, would cohere during spinning and would be obviated; (2) that any adhering action after spinnin would be alon the whole length of the fi er, so thatthe a hering surfaces would not tear apart 've) before fracture of the fiber itself; a) completely covering fibers would act as protection from damp, acid, etc., and'other influences deleterious to strength of fiber. fi

would militate against the drawing out incidental to spinning and, more 1m ortant, the adhesion between the fibers wou d be mterrupted and therefore of less sectional area and consequently less effective against fibers slipping prior to their fracture.

To take an example in connection with .undischa ged waste silk, (by which I viz :--(1) that short light fibers mean the refuse of cocoons in which fibers still retain their natural gum). Ordma- I rily, many of these fibers are more or less to strain.

In dealing with waste silk, still containing its natural gum, (which for various e reasons it is often desirable to retain,) after 'the greater advantage will be washing in petrol or the like, I immerse the fibers under pressure or vacuum if necessary, in a dilute solution of indla rubber or other roughening material of such a strength that while such solution is sufliciently mobile to penetrate between and around the fibers it is yet strong enough to cause the depositlon all over the fibers of only a sufficient thickness of rubber adhering to these fibers to prevent undue slipping over 'each other both during spinning and also in the yarn. The solvent, which shall be volatile, is evaporated, (preferably in a closed chamber with a view to recovery) leaving the fibers roughened and more susceptible of advantageous spinning into yarn. If fibers adhere during treatment'before spinning recarding will be necessary after treatment unless spun wet.

Many substances other than waste silk can be so treated with advantage, and some hitherto incapable of spinnin can thus be made into yarn. Probably n most cases got by treating the yarn after loosely spinning and then drying in a more twisted state, in order to reap the full benefit of the cementing action and avoid the uncovering of the fiber by posibly re-cardi'ng necessary immediately before spinning. The fibers cannot be left cemented together before spinning, otherwise drawing out would be prevented.

It will probably be possible to spin thistledown, deep-sea-fiber-(Posidom'a Australie) and other fibers which have hitherto "defied human ingenuity, and many other short and slippery fibers would be enormously strengthened in the yarn.

The liquid used in the treatment may comprise, a dilute mobile solution of rub-- her in carbon bisulfid,.benzol or other suitable solvent, or a. dilute mobile solution of gelatin in water or other suitable solvent 1n any form, or similar substances. To. these solutions may or may not be added glycerol or other hygroscopic'or other substance in sufiieient quantity to keep the coating of rubber. gelatin, or similar material in atacky state, .Also the deposit of rubber might subsequently be hardened by vu1- from suitable r-ubbe any convenient stage in the process of manufaoture subsequently to treatment with the rubber solution or after use of yarn 1n weaving or otherwise or during the vulcanization of any rubber mixture thatmight be coated on to the yarn or fabric. Further, the deposit of gelatin, isinglass, or similar material, with or' without glycerin left on the fibers (whether or not worked up into yarn or fabric or whether or not such yarn or fabric has been woven, knitted, netted, or otherwise used) by the evaporation of the solvent or removal of the re-agent or influence rendering it sufliciently mobile to completely and evenly cover the fibers all over may preferably be subsequently hardened and rendered absolutely insoluble in water by treatment with formalin (formaldehyde), alum. chrome-alum, potassiumbichromate, or other agent having a like effect. Or again, the fiber or yarn may be treated with a solution of gum-arabic or other suitable gum with or without glyce-- rin, and dried, and the deposit subsequently hardened and rendered completely insoluble in water (whether before spinning or weaving or whether yarn or fabric has been used or not) by treatment with-a solution of potassium bichromate or other reagent having a similar effect. The hardening process should in most cases, but' especially when potassium bichromate' or chrome alum is used be carried out with a free exposure, of the fibers to light, as it is well known that. light facilitates the hardening action of certain reagents. a

Other liquids or solutions whichcould be employed are glycerin, alone, or prefer:

gelatin in acetic acid prepared in a man-..

ner that is well understood so asto be in-- soluble in water after it has once been dried. To the solution employed may sometlmes be added if desired a suitable solid material I in a fine state of division held in suspension which will remain adhering to the fiber after solvent is ova. rated. 4

The following are examples of 'working with waste silk*.-'

' Example -1: Silk waste undischarged after cleaning with petrol or other agent to evaporation and recovery of solvent un til sohd matter alone remains on the fiber,

the solvent entirely separating itself by evaporation. (1) Finely divided rough particles may be added to solution or (2) these particles may while suspended .in air be dusted on or breathed through the silk fibers while rubber coating is still tacky or (3) particles may be rubber coated, then mixed with fibers and cemented to them by immersing whole mass in vapor of solvent. H

Example 2: Yarn loosely spun from undischarged silk waste is cleaned with petrol ,or other agent which will not touch the gum or damage the silk, and is immersed, preferably under pressure or in vacuum, in a 57% solution of rubber dissolved in pure carbon bisulfid (of boiling point not lower than 46 centigrade) or dis solved in.benzol or naphtha for 10 minutes, twisted as it comes from the solution befavorable to evaporation and recovery of solvent until solid matter alone remains on the fiber, the solvent entirely separating itwhich would subsequently prove useless self by evaporation.

If the. liquid or solution which has been used to render the fibers less susceptible to slipping on each other contains a substance disadvantageous or injurious, such as gelatinous rubber, resinous, or other similar substances, this substance may be extracted from the fibers by a solvent or by .a mechanical process applied at that stage in'the manufacture which appears to be most appropriate and the most convenient for this operation. I

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States is:

1. The process of manufacturing yarn hering coati from fibers which are too slippery to be suc- 1;

cessfully spun when in their normal condition, consisting in treating thefibers before the spinning is completed with a solution mobile and completely fluid at the time of its application and thereby depositing an adon the fiberswhich shall increase the coe cient of friction of the fibers over one another ,to render the complete spinning of the fibers into yarn feasible and without seriously affecting the-drawing out action incidental to the spinning.

2. The process of manufacturing yarn from fibers which are too slippery to be successfully spun when in their normal condition, consisting in treating the fibers before spinning with a solution mobile and completely fluid at the time of its application. and thereby depositing an adhering coatinig on the fibers which shall increase the coe cient of friction of the fibers over one another to render the complete spinning of. the fibers into yarn feasible and without seriously affecting the'drawing out action incidental to the spinning.

3. The process of manufacturing yarn from fibers which are too slippery to be successfully spun when in their normal condition, consisting in treating the fibers before the spinning is completed with a mobile solution of rubber and completely fluid at the time of its application and thereby depositing an adhering coating on the fibers which shall increase the coeflicient of friction of the fibers over one another to render the complete spinning of the fibers into yarn feasible and without seriously aifecting the drawing out action incidental to the s inning and subsequently hardening said riction coating for the purposes substantially asset fort In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 7 two subscribing witnesses. I r

' WILLIAM EDGAR MUNTZ.

Witnesses:

L. A. Nnw'roN, E. C. WALKER. 

